Manual versus Electric Toothbrushes
A key consideration these days is whether of not you go with a manual toothbrush or use a more expensive electric toothbrush. Some research suggests that manual and electric toothbrushes can be equally effective if used right. However, the key part of that statement is 'if used right'. Proper use of a manual toothbrush is different from proper use of an electric toothbrush and improper use of each will lead to a different set of issues. Personally I think it's easier to do a good job of brushing your teeth with an electric toothbrush than a manual one simply because of how fast the electric toothbrushes vibrate.
Here's a link to a good article that explains how to brush your teeth correctly with a manual toothbrush. You can also watch this video which is offers good instruction. Finally this video explains how to brush your teeth in four simple steps and highlights the fact that it is the posterior (rear) teeth that are most often ignored in teeth brushing.
Some common issues related to brushing with a manual toothbrush include:
- not brushing long enough (you should brush for two minutes)
- brushing too aggressively
- ignoring your back teeth
- not cleaning the difficult to clean teeth first
- improper brush strokes
This video from askthedentist.com covers brushing with an electric toothbrush. It makes the point that the big issue with using an electric toothbrush is over-brushing. Especially with an electric toothbrush do NOT brush or scrub back and forth! This wears the teeth down. As the video says, this will literally SAW into the tooth via the nylon bristles!
This second video covering electric toothbrushing shows you in more detail the proper way to brush with an electric toothbrush. The video by PeriodontalHealth recommends Sonicare's electric toothbrushes which also happens to be my favourite as well. One of my very best friends though swears by his Oral B toothbrush! While there are other electric toothbrush manufacturer 'out there' including Braun, Panasonic and some more obscure ones, the two leading manufacturers are, in my mind, Phillips (which makes Sonicare) and Proctor and Gamble (which makes Oral B). After that it really comes down to selecting a model that is right for you.
Electric toothbrushes have a variety of features (bells and whistles). Some have programs e.g. power increasing gently over the first few times the brush is used, timers to help you keep track of how long you should brush, different cleaning modes (power clean, sensitive, refresh, massage, gum care...) and so on.
Some factors you should consider when buying an electric toothbrush include:
- the initial price of the device
- the cost of replacement toothbrush heads (these can be quite expensive!)
- the variety of replacement heads - shape, size, functionality
- features that are important to you e.g. perhaps you value a two-minute timer to track how long you brush
So what about the manual toothbrush? My advice is to go electric and save the manual for power outages and perhaps roughing it style camping trips!